Zen

Finally! A crossword puzzle I can complete! (translation: very very easy)

Notice that in the title it says “celebrity” ……. I actually found that off-putting, since I am not one who knows much about actors, sports figures etc.

BUT, to my delight, the celebrity part is usually only two or three clues throughout the entire puzzle, and completely solvable with the cross-clues.

I really enjoy doing crossword puzzles. But I’m also REALLY bad at it. I’ve tried so many, and it’s so discouraging. I love that I can almost always complete this one. I know it’s easy, but that’s ok with me. I still get a happy feeling when I get my completed star and digital confetti as I type in the last word.🙂

There is absolutely no learning curve to complete the puzzle. The clue is highlighted along with the blocks you have to fill. Just tap and type. (there are some other nuances. You earn coins when solving, and you can use these coins to buy hints, etc. This is something I’ve never needed to do, so I just ignore the whole coin thing. I just do the basic puzzle. Perfect in its simplicity.)

You get ONE puzzle per day. Just one. At first I craved more, but over time I’ve found that one is just enough. This way I don’t over-do and it keeps my interest.

Occasionally you’ll get a bonus free puzzle. As I type this, I noticed that the app is offering a free bonus puzzle for Valentine’s day. So today I’ll do two. Yay!

Not much of a learning curve. The basic premise: you release a ball and it bounces around on the screen, bumping into dots of various colors. Your job is to aim that ball as it is released in a way that will maximize its collision with orange dots. Your main goal is to clear the screen of orange dots before you run out of balls.

There will be a few obstacles tossed your way (of course). But you’ll learn as you go.

When you start, you have a choice of several different “modes” of play. I recommend “Adventure” as this will move you along gradually, screen to screen, learning as you go.

It really is addictive fun. There is something rather hypnotic watching that ball bounce around on the screen.

Here are two random screen shots. The arrangement of dots will change with each screen, and sometimes some of them are moving targets.

Sometimes I enjoy mindless entertainment on my iPad. I like to sit down with something that requires not too much thought, and is relaxing to use. iOrnament is all that. Relaxing, fun, productive, AND creative.🙂

Although iOrnament is ‘do-able’ as soon as you download it, if you want to get better at it, there are some things to learn.

There is a very handy pop-up tutorial that appears as you go, and this is quite helpful as you learn how to get the most enjoyment from this creative design delight.

I included here a picture of my very FIRST doodle with this app. I really love how you can zoom in to add detail. Then…… zoom back out. Wow. When that detail is repeated all over your pattern, you look like a design genius.

If you like to doodle, this is a doodler’s delight.

You can save your creation as a photo, use it as wallpaper, send it to others or publish it on social media.

TanZen is a classic tangram game. It is so well done, that you can just lose yourself in the solving. It works smoothly and the controls are very intuitive. Just slide the pieces in place. Tap to flip, spin to rotate. There is even some soothing background music if you care to enjoy that, too.

I have had the TanZen game on my iPhone since the day I got my first iPhone. (The iPad hadn’t been invented yet.😆 Obviously I’ve had this game for a long time, and it has never crashed or given me grief in any way.)

There are several versions of the game available. One for the iPhone, and another HD version for the iPad. In both cases there is a free version (I’ll provide links to the free ones). If you enjoy it, and want more puzzles, you always have the option to buy more.

But the free versions give you close to 50 puzzles, so you can thoroughly enjoy TanZen without laying out any $$$$$$. 🙂

You get one screen, and you doodle within the circle. You can vary the thickness of your lines, and the number of them as well. You can choose colors for your lines, you can change the background color or fill in spots with colors. The more you fiddle with it doodle, the more variety you will add to your design.